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Gold Knight wrote:Nils--how about if you ask Mr Axel if WW members can come up with a name for the new crank in a given time frame? The most popular 5 names you can present to Axel--since most of his business are forum members here--i am guessing on that!

Kevin, that is a good proposal. I have just been discussing this with Axel and we indeed would like to give it a try. If you look at our name pattern it may become obvious that Axel likes to pick names from the Greek mythology (Hera, Poseidon, Artemis, Phoenix, ..), so ideally the name should fit into the same scheme -- it is not really a necessity though as can be seen with the "Nasdorowje" bottle cage; the name simply has to fit to the product, "ultralight crank" for instance would not be good enough, same with YACC or YAULCC Hammertime. Also the name must not already be reserved by any of our products nor be linked to a (well-known) product of another company (Nike won't do good either for instance).I am currently in building our new 2010 printed catalogue, which will as well already contain the crankset, so name suggestions are definitely welcome -- but and this is the real challenge: the catalogue's deadline is next week!I'd like to catch up GoldKnight's proposal of submitting name propositions of which the 5 best ones are going to picked from (either by us or eventually even better by the WW community) to then be discussed in an internal meeting over at us at the AX facility. The "best" submission (again this is subjective) will get an AX Nasdorowje bottle cage as well as our new AX-Lightness branded Tacx Source bottle.Let the games begin!

On Oct 10, 2009 in New AX Lightness parts at Interbike, pk0r wrote:I just returned back home from Axel, Rico - but indeed we have come to a decision yesterday night. It really really is not just a flowery phrase when stating it had been a very tough decision as both of us have been overwhelmed not only by the quantity but especially also quality of the posts. I must say I was having several favorites at the same time (also some in completely different directions/orientations) and personally some names also have been encouraging new product ideas..

So ultimately it has been a very tough call, in the end the last two finalists in our shootout have come from the same person though (the proposals had not been limited to just one) which however as well sets us in front of slight problems as said user has been sending his suggestions via mail, bit as well as PM in here on the forums. The former may have disqualified him if one would have to be strict, but the latter to us still qualifies him to being a deserved winner (as it still has been a forum contribution which is what has been asked for).

So the Oscar goes to mike and the crank is going to be called AX.Morpheus in reference to Morpheus, God of dreams. My congratulations!!! Please send me your address and I'll ship out your Nasdorowje cage as well as AX Source bottle!

Of course, surely the AX Pythias, whatever that product might be, will be coming out not too long after the Morpheus. Remember that like Pythias, the Pythias <insert AX bicycle component here> can be depended on to keep its word, perform as advertised, and get the job done, no matter the adversity.

Edit: And like Pythias, who, despite the adversity of his ship being seized by pirates, valiantly persisted to make it back in time to spare his friend Damon's death, so too the AX Pythias valiantly persists to get its name attached to the next worthy AX bicycle component for which its qualities so clearly hit the mark.

I wanted to share the new pictures because you can see the shapes of each singe tube so much better then on the CAD screenshots. The decals on those pictures are silver. The frames come with glossy black decals and matt clearcoat for the rest of the frame .

Hi, this is Nils writing from Axel's account. As we have been composing a small explanation in regards to the geometry and specifically about the headtube lengths over in German Tour-Forums, we would like to share the info over here as well on what made us choose this exact route:

In finding a suitable geometry we have been collaborating closely with an experienced and well-reputed German bike fitter, who besides already having conducted thousands of fittings also works with well-known professionals from triathlon as well as road racing (http://www.scrane.de). The newest philosophies and approaches aim at placing the racer/rider into a power efficient and relaxed position in the drops as this is where races are being decided. For such a position even numerous pros often require spacers with conventional frames.The results from fittings for our custom frames also confirm this approach, as the majority of customers indeed required slightly extended headtubes (which does not mean all of them would be touring riders though, actually quite the opposite..).

In this regards the geometry already targets racers. However one also has to take the complete "system" of the built bike into account, which (besides the stem) also includes the headset respectively headset cover. We are using a 3mm flat version here that puts the seemingly extended headtubes into perspective in comparison to the more commonly used higher headset cover versions.

Besides these geometrical aspects, the design also involves structural respectively mechanical advantages as it directly boosts the stiffness of the bike's front, notable directly at the bar. By bringing the stem close to the headtube (/upper headset bearing), the bearing load as well as the stress on the fork's steerer decreases, which therewith at the same time increases the safety.This by the way also applies to those who intend to be using a stem with steep negative rise (according to our data respectively that of the bike fitter mostly persons with a long torso in relation to their actual height) as also here the stiffness is affected in a positive way (in comparison to a shorter headtube with a less steep negative stem).

Thanks to compact bars such a position based on an aggressive position in the drops of the bars does not necessarily translate into a non-raceworthy, relaxed overall position though. Whilst originally intended to allow for a more relaxed position in the drops of conventional bike designs, here they conversely allow quite the opposite: By fixing the position in the drops, they as well put the rider into a more racy position in the top of the bars and hoods as well (due to their lower total height respectively negative drop a.k.a rise).

Hope this casts some light onto our considerations and ideas of why the geometry looks like it is.

A minor technical addition in regards to the frame as we are regularly approached with questions regarding the standards of the peripherals for the frame lately:

• The seatpost diameter follows the current trends of using a non-oversize 27.2mm seatpost in order to boost comfort,• the headset has a diameter of 1 1/4“ at the bottom and 1 1/8“ on top to achieve a good compromise or do the splines between a good stiffness, stability, weight and comfort- the fork and headset are as usual already included with the frameset though,• and the bottom bracket complies with the BB386 standard as already do our Alpha and Vial frames.

It has to be added that in contrast to other (light) frames, we exclusively make use of carbon bearing seats with directly pressed in bearings which allow us to skip adapters or the typical nylon or aluminum bearing cups altogether (such as found with PressFit30, BB86, BB386Evo, BBright PressFit in case of the BB for instance). Like that one not only saves 60g over stock bottom brackets (20g in comparison to the lightest tuning versions), but at the same time also eliminates possible sources for creaking sounds.

We intend to publish a more detailed explanation of the execution itself and a comparison to other typical market solutions on our homepage shortly, as there seems to be some confusion or misinformation (as indicated by the reoccuring questions).Us we have been pursuing to achieve the lightest system weight without having to compromise, even if that meant additional labour, time and tooling.~Nils

We have been adding the reach and stack numbers to our geometry charts for the Vial Evo. They are not on the homepage yet, but will be added/updated in the course of the coming week.I have already been putting together a small sketch sheet for you to get a sneak peek up front.

We should also have the first production frame pictures available next week. ~Nils

The housing is interrupted to allow for a lower weight. There is an additional liner at the bottom bracket for a cleaner routing.

The cable stops themselves are bolted to allow for interchangeability between mechanical and electronic systems which we consider a small sacrifice in weight in favor for compatibility and usability.~Nils

That is what I like to hear. Well done AX-Lightness! Seems like this frame just seems better and better. Just past Pinarello Dogma 65.1 Think2 that is the best frame looking at internal wiring and wirestops.